Shang's bath
by RukiaGallega
Summary: One more bathing scene AU. This time, Mulan came sooner to the lake, so she avoids Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, only to run into her captain taking a bath. Now a two-shot!
1. Shang's bath

AN: My first fanfic of _Mulan_! It was one of my favourite films as a kid and watching it again took me out of a two years' worth of writer's block. This story was going to have a lower rating, but it turned out to have more innuendos than I thought it would, so it's rated T just to be safe.

Also, English is not my first language; usually I write in Spanish and sometimes I translate my stories to English, but this time I wanted to try and write it directly in English, so if there are any mistakes, please tell me.

Hope you enjoy it :D

Shang's bath

"Finally! What took you so long?"

Mulan sighed as she wrapped a towel around herself. After only ten minutes of bathing she had grown tired of Mushu's constant complaining and she had got out of the lake. Well, on the bright side, she felt much cleaner now.

"You worry too much. Nobody saw me, right?"

"That doesn't mean it wasn't reckless! What if…?"

The sound of fast footsteps approaching made both woman and dragon suddenly stiffen. Mulan reacted first and quickly hide behind a tree with Khan, just in time to see Yao, Ling and Chien Po running towards the lake she just left. All three of them were totally naked.

And luckily, none noticed her. Mulan let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"That was close."

"No, that was vile" Mushu groaned. One of the men had tossed his underwear on their way to the lake and it had landed just in Mushu's face. He didn't look thrilled at all about it. "If you haven't listened to me, they would have run into you bathing, and they would have noticed a couple things."

Mulan rolled her eyes as she put her clothes on. Great, now the little red dragon lizard won't let her live that down. She'd had enough punishment with watching those three naked. She shuddered at the memory.

"I don't want to see a naked man ever again."

As she said that, she noticed several male voices coming from the camp. Looks like everyone had chosen that night to take a bath. Just her luck.

Mushu snorted.

"If you think I'm gonna bite some man's ugly butt for you, you're very wrong."

Mulan adjusted her shirt around her. She was already fully dressed, but she didn't want to run into any of her fellow soldiers, much less if they were all naked too.

"We better make a detour around the lake."

Mushu agreed as he climbed on her shoulder. They followed the lake's shore in the opposed direction of the camp, trying to be as quiet as possible through the vegetation and the muddy ground. Sadly, they weren't silent enough.

"Who's there?"

Mulan suddenly stopped. She knew that voice all too well.

"Captain?" She asked, hoping against all hope to be wrong.

"Ping? Is it you? Come here."

Mulan thought to run away for a second, but that would make things get worse for her on the long run, so she walked towards her captain's voice.

He was standing in a clearing beside the lake's shore, his imposing figure illuminated only by the moonlight. Mushu quickly hide behind her neck and Mulan fidgeted with Khan's reins, feeling awkward. Shang was shirtless, again. Why did he have to _always_ walk around shirtless? She thought she would get used to it, but it was impossible. She tried to not ogle him.

"What are you doing here, Ping?" Shang asked. For a moment, Mulan thought she was in trouble, but he looked mostly curious, and as surprised as her to have run into each other.

"I… hum… I went to wash, and now I'm clean so I'm going to go… bye bye."

She tried to retreat, but his voice made her stop.

"Wait." When Mulan looked at him again, he seemed somewhat nervous. Shang tugged at his hair tie until it was loose. He had such a long, pretty hair… Mulan suddenly realized she wanted to run her fingers through it.

"Ping, I wanted to tell you…" He began, and stopped abruptly. Mulan tried to focus on his words as he started again. "You have improved a lot in your training, and I wanted to tell you that I'm very proud of you, and I'm glad you didn't go home when I told you to…" He paused again. "I mean, you shouldn't have disobeyed an order from a superior, but you proved I was wrong, so…" He seemed to not know how to continue, so he looked away from her to take of his shoes.

Mulan allowed herself a little smile.

"Thank you for your words, sir. And for everything; I wouldn't have been able to come this far if it weren't for your training."

Shang smiled. He had such a beautiful smile, she idly thought.

"I'm glad to hear that, I was starting to believe I was an awful captain."

"Really? For what it's worth, I think you're a great captain."

That made him smile a little again. There was a short silence, as both wondered what to say. As it seemed that they had said everything they had to say, Shang turned to the near tree where he have been leaving his clothes and took his pants off.

…Wait. What?!

Mulan felt her brain melt down as she saw her captain totally naked in front of her. He just hung his pants on a branch, as if nothing unusual was happening. He had such long, strong legs, and just like his chest, all his body was covered in hard, big muscles. _Everything_ in him was big.

"Mulan" Mushu whispered in her ear, "you're drooling".

This snapped Mulan back to reality and she quickly turned away from her captain. He noticed the sudden movement.

"Ping? Is something wrong?"

"Eh? No, no." She realized her voice was being even more high pitched than usual and tried to compose herself. "I'm just going back to camp. Need some rest to keep up with training tomorrow."

"Are you sure you're not ill? You look flushed."

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a bit tired." Mulan covered her face with one hand, as she tried to not look at him, control her blush, and take a peek at him, all at the same time.

"Oh. Alright then, go get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Good night."

"Good night, Captain."

Mulan turned to leave with Khan, but before she took one last look at him above her shoulder. Shang had jumped into the cold water and now was standing in the lake, with the water at the level of his waist and tiny drops running down his perfect torso. Mulan gulped and Mushu had to remind her she was not supposed to ogle her captain.

They left the lake and came back to the camp. Mushu was the first one to talk.

"Well, that could have go much worse. Right, Mulan?"

She didn't hear him. She was too busy replaying the scene with her captain in her head.

"He took off his clothes." She managed to mumble. "He took off his clothes. He took off his clothes!"

"Didn't you say something like 'I don't want to see a naked man ever again'?"

"Eh?" Mulan finally looked at him, but she had a glazed expression on her face and Mushu doubted she had even understood him.

"Great" he commented sarcastically to Khan and Crikee. "Looks like her brain just got overheated."

By the time Mulan reached her tent, she was able to properly think again. Well, kind of. She still couldn't stop herself from remembering Shang's body again and again. Just how was she supposed to look at him from now on without thinking about THAT? Scratch that; how was she supposed to sleep with that image in her head? Maybe she should go back to the lake and take a cold, refreshing bath…

But she could run into Shang again, so that was not such a good idea.

Mulan sighed and threw a blanket over her head, trying to get some sleep. That was going to be a long night.

Unbeknownst to her, Mushu decided to pay Shang a visit and make him pay for giving his little girl such a hard time. However, he ended up overhearing his discussion with Chi-Fu and then Mushu became too busy forging a letter from the General so he forgot to annoy Shang.

As to what happened then, well, you already know.


	2. Dinner with (future) in-laws

**AN** : Ugh, I can't believe it took me more than a year to finish this. And still I'm not happy with the beginning. I don't know if I'll write more fanfiction for Mulan, but I hope you enjoy this second part. Thanks for all your reviews, I'm glad you guys enjoyed the first part :D

Dinner with (future) in-laws

This was awkward. Shang wasn't still quite sure how he had gotten here, staying for dinner at Mulan's house, with Mulan's parents, and with Mulan herself calmly sitting in front of him. It was awkward, even more since he was still getting used to her being a woman.

Actually, the last few days felt kind of surreal to him. First, he found his father's slaughtered army, then there was the battle against the Huns; he almost died because of an avalanche caused by the craziest, weirdest soldier he has ever met, and was saved of that certain death by said soldier, only to find out the craziest, weirdest soldier he has ever met was actually a woman.

As if all of this, added to the hardest decision he had made in his life, wasn't enough, it turned out some of the Huns had survived and… Well, let's just say the victory parade went quite downhill. But it all ended up pretty good, with the Huns defeated and Ping… sorry; _Mulan_ safe and sound and becoming a hero, and she was without doubt the most amazing person he has ever met and as odd as it may seem she didn't hate him for being such a stupid jerk.

So of course, he just had to mess things up _again_.

Seriously, "you fight good"? What had he been thinking? Oh, wait, that's right, he hadn't been thinking _at all_. Of course, he had been hit on the head twice that night, but still, he could hear his ancestors yelling at him from the afterlife for being such an idiot.

So he had resolved to settle things right and followed Mulan to her house. He spent the whole travel planning what he would say. It was sheer luck that he managed to find his… _her_ helmet, so he already had an excuse to show up at her house and something to break the ice. And then, what?

Well, first he should apologize for not trusting her. For being rude. For abandoning her in a mountain to freeze to death (though there was no way in hell she was going to forgive him for that). Anything else?

Now that he thought about it, he should have been a bit softer to her while training. Of course, Mulan had managed a good performance even with the odds against her, and at that time he didn't know she was… Well, _she_ , but still, in hindsight he felt really bad for treating a woman in such a way.

And then he remembered he hit her while training and he almost freaked out. Since Shang was a boy, his father had drilled him in having an honourable life to uphold the family name. This included respecting women, as they were (supposedly) fragile beings who had to be protected so they could give birth to strong children, which meant that mistreating a woman was highly dishonourable.

Then again, Mulan was a strong woman capable of defending herself, and she did in fact hit him back while training. Oddly enough, he didn't felt as bad for being hit by a girl (no one on their right mind would, after witnessing said girl destroying a whole army by herself) as he felt for hitting her. He could hear his father's voice in his head, lecturing him about how a man is supposed to protect his family and country, never harm women or children, never…

Now a sudden memory _did_ make him freak out, and he almost fell of his horse.

He had taken off his clothes in front of her.

He had forgotten that incident at the lake right until now. How was he going to look at her without remembering _that_? What did she think about it? Shang remembered her being quite flustered and now he understood why. What if she thought he was disgusting?

Maybe it wasn't too late to turn back…

No, he couldn't go back now. Mulan was the most amazing woman he had ever met; he couldn't just let her go. Not to mention the Emperor himself kind of called him an idiot for almost doing that, although in his own refined way.

So, Mulan had every right to hate him and she probably thought he was an exhibitionist jerk, but still, he had to at least _try_ and tell her how he felt. He was a grown man and an army captain, dammit, he should be able to talk to a young woman.

Which brings us back to the present time, where Shang is sitting awkwardly at Mulan's living room.

Honourable Fa Zhou was sitting at the head of the table, while Shang was given the spot at his right and Mulan sat at his left. It felt kind of unfair, Shang thought, for Mulan to be given the third most important seat at the table when she just saved China, but he just couldn't bring himself to argue after being offered such an important place at the table.

Not to mention that he had already made himself look like a fool _again_ , and he just didn't trust his own tongue anymore.

So he sat tense as a bow string, and tried to look like the dignified captain he was supposed to be, while Mulan helped her mother and grandmother serve dinner. He could sense the gazes her family sent him sometimes (or was he becoming paranoid?) as he ate slowly. There was silence for a while, until…

"So…" Fa Zhou said, leaving his cup of tea on the table. "I think we all are interested in knowing how our little Mulan became a hero."

"I'm more interested in knowing how you two met" said Gradma Fa. She was sitting at Shang's right, a bit closer than what was proprer, and she slyly pocked him with her bony elbow.

Shang shallowed the rice in his mouth. Mulan smiled.

"Well, both are kind of the same story" Mulan said. "Shang was the captain in charge of training the recruits. That's how we met, and thanks to that, I received the training I needed to save China. I wouldn't have been able to without his help."

She looked at him and Shang felt himself flush, briefly lost in the deeps of her eyes.

"It must have been hard" Fa Zhou said. "I remember my first days at the army. I thought I was going to die."

Shang looked at him in surprise. He would have never guessed _the_ famous Fa Zhou had trouble while training.

"It was" Mulan sighed. "You were quite a hard teacher, captain."

He knew she was teasing him. Now it was his chance to look like the intelligent young man he actually was when he could get a hold on himself.

"Well, it was my job to make soldiers out of that bunch of undisciplined troublemakers. Maybe if you hadn't been so busy trying to cheat and had concentrated more on the task, the training wouldn't have been so hard."

Mulan flushed, but she bit back.

"Well, maybe if you had kept your shirt on, I wouldn't have had such a hard time concentrating."

Now it was Shang's time to flush. And Mulan's mother. Fa Zhou arched an eyebrow. His mother giggled.

"It's normal to train shirtless" Shang noticed his voice sounded more high pitched than usual and cursed for himself.

"Oh, don't be so shy" Grandma Fa patted him on the forearm. "Feel free to take off your shirt anytime you want."

"Mother!" Fa Zhou exclaimed, but Shang got the feeling it wasn't the last time the old woman said something like that.

"What? It's only a shirt" Grandma Fa waved a hand. "Your father used to train shirtless, too. It's not as if I'm telling him to take off _all_ his clothes."

Shang choked on a mouthful of rice. Without thinking, he looked at Mulan, who had turned a deep crimson. For a second, their eyes locked. Quickly, she looked away, at the cup of tea in her hand.

The lake. Shang knew Mulan was remembering that, and he had to fight the urge to run away in embarrassment.

He had to keep calm. Take deep breaths. He could survive a battle with the most vicious enemies of China, a dinner with a small family shouldn't be so hard. Surely the night couldn't get any worse, right?

Wrong.

An hour after dinner, Mulan and Shang were strolling through the garden. Shang had managed to calm down a little. He took a deep breath; they were alone, and he had to tell her what he felt. It was now or never.

"Mulan, I…"

A little dog ran past them, closely followed by a bunch of chickens.

Shang had to stop suddenly and stare at such an odd sight. Mulan muttered a curse she obviously learnt at her time in the army and excused herself, running after the animals. Shang just stood there, and sighed. So much for planning heartfelt confessions.

He sat down on a stone bench, under a magnolia tree, thinking about everything he wanted to say, as soon as they could talk without being interrupted. First apologize, and then… Then what? Should he tell her how he felt? How _exactly_ did he feel? He liked her, but he had never been in love and he didn't know how to act. And what if she didn't like him back?

He was so wrapped in his own thoughts, it took him a while to notice the soft ruffle of feet above his head, and the feeling of being watched. His soldier training taking over the young man's worries, he grabbed his sword and swiftly spun around.

Someone yelped and a tiny red creature fell from the branch Shang had almost cut in half.

He looked at the tree, trying to find the spy, but there was nothing on it but magnolia flowers. That's weird, he was sure he heard someone shriek.

"I think I'm losing my mind." Shang muttered for himself.

"Of course you are! Swinging your sword around like that, you'll hurt someone!"

Shang looked down at where that voice came from, but he only found the little red lizard that fell from the branch. Who was looking directly at him. Standing on two legs and front claws crossed, _frowning_.

…What?

"What are you looking at? Aren't you even gonna apologize?" The lizard said.

Shang yelled and tripped, falling back on the bench.

"A talking lizard!"

The little creature rolled its eyes.

"Dragon. I'm a dra-gon. Why does everyone mistake me for a lizard?"

"A dragon? But dragons don't exist!"

"Oh, really? What about I fry your butt, see if that burn doesn't exist?" The creature snorted, a little flame escaping his nostrils.

Shang had always been told that dragons were water creatures, but then again, they were also supposed to be fictional, so he thought wiser to not comment anything.

"Anyway" the creature jumped on the tree and crawled a branch until he was at Shang's eyes level, "don't think I didn't see how you look at my little girl, so you better treat her well, or I'll burn you to a crisp. Got it?"

"Your little girl?"

"Mulan. I'm her guardian, Mushu." The creature puffed his chest looking very proud of himself. A little cricket jumped from its seat on a magnolia blossom and chirped indignantly. Mushu waved at it. "Oh, and this one's Crikee, Mulan's lucky cricket."

Shang stared at the cricket, who chirped at him. It looked oddly cute and expressive for a bug. The conversation was becoming so surrealist, Shang could only say one thing:

"Mulan has a lizard guardian?"

"Did you get something in your ears or what? I told you, I'm not a lizard! I don't do the tongue thing."

"What tongue thing?"

"You know, _that_ tongue thing lizards do."

Shang just stared at the little dragon in confusion. Mushu sighed.

"This tongue thing." He did the tongue thing. Shang finally understood.

"Ah, _that_ tongue thing." Suddenly, he frowned. "Wait, you just did the tongue thing. Does that mean you're a lizard?"

Mushu facepalmed.

"I can't believe my little girl has a crush on such an idiot."

Shang blushed.

"Wait, she does have a crush on me?"

"…I think I wasn't supposed to say that."

The cricket chirped. Mushu frowned.

"Who are you calling a 'bigmouth'?"

Just at that moment, Mulan came back, carrying the little dog in her arms.

"Sorry Shang. Little Brother needed some help…" Then she saw Mushu, who waved at her with a slightly guilty smile. "I see you've met my guardian."

"Yeah, well, we were just… You know, talking." Mulan gave him a 'we'll talk later' look and Mushu excused himself, running back to the temple, Crikee following him. Mulan sighed.

"Please, tell me he didn't threat you with biting your butt."

"Burn it to a crisp, actually."

Mulan shook her head, silky hair brushing her shoulders. It looked so soft, Shang really wanted to touch it. Instead, he scratched behind the dog's ear. Little Brother sniffed his hand and licked it, filling his fingers with drool. Mulan chuckled at his look of slight disgust and Shang smiled. Surely, Mulan's laugh was worth a bit of drool, wasn't it?

"Mulan…" He said, and he would never get tired of the feeling of her name on his lips, or the way her eyes lit up when he said it.

"Mulan, I have to apologize. I… I should have listened to you when you tried to warn us about the Huns. And I shouldn't have abandoned you at the Tung Shao pass. I…"

A slender hand pressed against his arm. Shang looked up. Mulan was smiling softly at him.

"You don't have to apologize. Actually, I should thank you for not cutting my head off."

Shang grimaced. He just didn't want to think of what would have happened if he had done that. He looked at his hands, and remembered something.

"Anyway, there's something else I should apologize for. You know, that night at the lake…"

Mulan blushed and Shang coughed awkwardly.

"Huh, I think I'm at fault too for that. After all, you thought I was a man."

"Yes, but still, it's… Huh…"

"Awkward?"

"Indeed."

"Maybe we should act as if that didn't happen?"

"Good idea. And above everything, just, please, don't tell your family I took off my clothes in front of you."

They heard a soft gasp behind them, and something falling to the ground. When they turned around, they found out that Mulan's family had been watching them. And overhearing them, it seemed, as Mulan's mother was covering her mouth with her hands, Grandma Fa had passed off with a nosebleed, and Fa Zhou was looking at him with an expression Shang could only describe as _murderous_.

Oh, great. Just his luck. He probably wasn't leaving that house with all his body parts.

But then he felt a slender hand in his, and when he looked at her, Mulan smiled softly, cheeks bright red, and somehow he knew everything was going to be okay.

Maybe he should just _not_ leave that house at all.


End file.
